O'Neill Foresees OECD Movement On Steel Overcapacity

ByJohn S. McClenahen U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill is more optimistic about the success of international negotiations to reduce global steel overcapacity than are many manufacturing executives. Under the auspices of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), the U.S. and other steel producing nations have been talking about halving an estimated 200 million annual tons of excess capacity by 2005. But to do so will require some politically difficult decisions, including the dramatic reduction or elimination of subsidies. Nevertheless, without specifying a date, O'Neill says he's "hopeful of some important movement" under the OECD.